


The Relationship Plan

by adreamofadandelioninthespring



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Catching Fire AU, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-23 10:09:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18150479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adreamofadandelioninthespring/pseuds/adreamofadandelioninthespring
Summary: Peeta proposes a relationship plan to Katniss leading up to their Victory tour to try and beat President Snow at his own game. But there is more behind the love timeline than Katniss realises.





	The Relationship Plan

Thunder booms and the lightning lights up the late evening sky in the far distance.

The tears stream down my face.

There's a massive delivery sitting on my front porch. Packages covered in the official Capitol seal. Boxes filled with unimaginable things. Winter clothing that isn’t threadbare and worn. Food that could feed all of The Seam residents. There are things in there that I never imagined I'd own. 

This is my second delivery from The Capitol after being home for just 8 weeks. The first was just food and gifts from admirers. This is the first full package filled with our talent items, more clothing, food and anything else my mother ordered after I threw the forms at her.

I have electricity constantly. Running hot water. A fireplace to keep us warm with firewood cut and at the ready when the winter chill fills the air.

I have a house that could fit my home in the seam inside it several times. My own room with a soft mattress. A pillow that is not too soft but not too hard. Sheets and blankets that are made of the most beautiful silk. 

I don’t deserve any of this.

I stare at the boxes left on the porch, and I see them all. Rue, Thresh, Foxface, Glimmer, Clove.... they died for me to have this. To live a life of luxury. I don't have to worry about how I'm going to feed Prim. How I'm going to clothe her for the winter. What items I'm going to need to trade.

Mom and Prim are in town assisting in a delivery. I’ve been at our Seam house hiding out, unable to face my District. The fence has been on since we’ve returned. The children have just returned back to school after a happy summer. Families have been well fed and are enjoying extra portions of their rations.

But it’ll come to an end when a new victor is crowned, and the extra rations are delivered to a new district, and everyone will be left to starve and struggle. There'll be an influx of babies born but nothing to feed them with. Babies will cry in hunger, their mother's milk will dry up quicker than they wish, siblings will stand hollow-cheeked in the streets looking for food, father's wages won't be enough to cover daily expenses of food, the district will be exposed to a simple cold that will wipe a fair few citizens out, young and old.

They'll look to me for hope, but I have no hope to give them. All I can give them is a broken 16-year-old girl who is trying to keep her sister alive while still playing the game.

I can’t keep playing their game.

I turn on my heel, a knot of pain forming in my stomach, the rain has started to fall. I pass his house; he's just returned home from Town and to has received his package. 

“Katniss?” He calls out to me. “Katniss, stop!” He yells after me and gives chase.

“Would you just leave me alone?” I call back to him, tears streaming down my face. I’m hoping I can beat him and put some distance between us.

“Katniss!” He calls after me, chasing me through the Victor Village and towards the fence line.

“Just leave me alone?” I cry as I run, the knot in my stomach is slowing me down, and I'm feeling winded. Thunder sounds close to the District.

I have to keep running. I need to breathe. I need the woods. I need to not be here.

“Katniss, don’t!”

The fence is in my line of sight, and I reach out to duck underneath it, but he catches me, pulling me back before my hand touches the fence.

The electrified fence.

 “Stop!” He tells me as I fight his hold on my body. He’s keeping me anchored to his body, trying to calm me down as I thrash in his arms.

"Let me go!" I cry, trying to break free from his hold. "Let me go!"

“I can’t.” He tells me as the thunder roars.

“Please!” I cry. “Just leave me alone.”

A bolt of lightning strikes a tree just inside the fence, splitting it cleanly right down the middle.

I’m too stunned to move and feel Peeta drag me away from the fence towards the safety of one of the empty houses.

We’re in the safety of the house when another strike of lightning hits the place where we were just standing next to the fence, the tree falling onto the fence as well, sending sparks flying and the power in Twelve sparking off.

He breaks a window, unlocking the door and dragging me down into the dark basement.

He allows me to cry it out while we wait out the storm.

I cry, trying to get the big knot out of my stomach but it just aches even more.

“Katniss. Talk to me.” He coaxes, crawling towards me. He's found a torch to light up the basement.

We're soaked to the bone. Covered in mud from head to toe. I'm shivering, but I can't focus on that.

“Katniss, please.”

I cry out a no and hold my knees to my chest.

He doesn’t stray far from me.

I can see he’s conflicted as to whether he should comfort me, wrapping me in his arms or let me cry it out.

I sob, hiccupping, before I bury my face into my knees as the rain continues to fall, the thunder and lightning right on top of us.

The thunder sounds like the canons in the arena.

“No, stop! Stop.” I cry, rocking as the thunder rumbles. “Please!”

I feel my hands pulled from my ears, my face brought towards, and he does the only thing he can think of.

To kiss me.

I focus on his lips. The way he squeezes my wrists and holds me steady as he kisses me. Trying to bring me back to him.

He pulls away slightly, looking me in the eyes and gripping my cheeks. “Stay with me.” He murmurs.

I look into his beautiful blue eyes. Settle on the calming color of the blues and exhale. “Always.”

He brings me to his chest, letting me rest against his chest and holds me as the storm passes. We don’t say a lot but being in each other’s arms is enough to get through the storm.

“What happened?” He asks me.

“I just saw the packages on the porch, and all these emotions filled me. I saw all their faces." I admit to him. "I don't deserve this."

He rubs my back before pushing my hair behind my ear and kisses my forehead.

“Nobody does.” He answers. “All I can think about is the blood on my hands. I can hear the screaming. The pleading to not be killed. The careers laughter. It’s like I’m reliving the arena in a waking nightmare.”

We’ve only been home for eight weeks. The scars may have been polished, but the internal scars will never heal. We'll be able to hear the screams for years.

"That's why Haymitch drinks," Peeta whispers. "To numb the pain." He exhales. "He sleeps with a knife under his pillow, and he doesn't sleep in the darkness because it's all too real for him."

“Will we ever leave the arena?” I ask him.

“No.” He breathes out. “This is our life. Expensive gifts, food to feed us for a lifetime, an allowance and everything else to try and hide the fact that we’re broken inside.”

“How do the other Victor’s survive?”

“I think they just hang on. Get through one day at a time.” He says. “We have to do the same just try and live each day.”

The storm passes, but we stay locked in each other's arms. Our clothes are soaked still, and I start shivering.

“We should get out of these clothes. Your mother will be worried.”

"She hasn't seemed to show a lot of that since I've returned."

“She might not show it or say it, but she does care for you." He reminds me. "She cares about you more than my mother does."

Which is true. I think his own mother was shocked to see him return home. I thought she'd ride alongside him on his win, but she's all but shut him out. They decided before we were even out of the arena that he was moving out on his own.

 “Come on.” He says.

I stand first and help him up. We exit the same way we entered the house, and we study the damage done to the window.

“We should probably report the damage.” He says.

"Or it could have been a kid with a ball," I suggest. "We just stumbled across it."

“I’ll go and see Darius tomorrow then.” He says with a slight smile.

He walks alongside me, avoiding the puddles of mud and water.

“Did you want to come over for some stew?” I ask him. “I don’t know how long Mom and Prim will be with the delivery.”

He looks up at me and nods. “Alright.” He smiles slightly. “Let me get changed and I’ll be right over.”

I watch him walk into his house, and I go into my house, avoiding the delivery on the front step and focusing on the stew on the stove while lighting candles around the house. 

Peeta arrives with a loaf of bread under his arm, and I watch him slice thick pieces for us to dip into our stew.

The one good thing about having him across the way was the abundance of fresh bread.

“Do you mind watching the stew while I quickly get changed?”

“I’ve got it.” He tells me with a smile. “Take your time.”

I nod, thanking him and heading up to change out of my muddy, rain-soaked clothes.

I dress in flannel pyjama pants and a sweater, knowing Peeta won’t mind the very casual look. I let my hair out of its braid, ridding of any tangles and letting the curls hang over my shoulders and down my back.

I find Peeta has begun to unpack the packages, especially the food and filling our cupboards.

I watch him from the doorway, watch as he quietly works, humming to himself as he flits between the package and the stew on the stovetop.

“You didn’t need to do that.” I say softly, startling him.

“I forgot how light on your feet you are.” He chuckles as he places a small package of flour in the cupboard. “I didn’t want any mice getting into it. Or the food especially.”

“They may as well, there’s more than enough to feed my family for years.”

He nods, and I move to help him unpack the last of the food.

The rest of the package is waiting in the living room. I know Prim will be excited to rifle through it all, trying on clothes, using the pens, claiming books and anything else that we've been gifted.

Peeta dishes up our stew, and we sit across from each other in the kitchen. Our only source of light is from candlelight.

“The last time we sat in near darkness was the cave.” He mentions.

“Hard to believe that was two months ago.” I say, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“I feel like I’ve aged 5 years since we left.”

“Me too.”

It’s mostly silence. We’ve hardly spoken since we’ve returned. Unsure of what to really say.

The train didn't leave us on the best of terms, and I've been cautious of how to broach anything with him. I hurt him. I know that.

But I hope he realises I did it to save his life. To bring him home, despite it not seeming as glamorous as people imagine.

We tidy up, Peeta washes, and I dry the dishes, putting them away.

“What’s the Victory tour going to be like?”

“I’m guessing a lot of speeches, dinners, balls and smiling.” He replies. “People will want to see us.” He swallows the lump in his throat as he hands me a plate. “We’re going to have to present ourselves as being in love, you know?”

I take the plate. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

“They won’t let us go that easily.” He sighs. “Katniss, I wanted to speak to you about my behaviour on the train. I shouldn’t have shut you out. You saved us. I know that.”

“You have nothing to apologise for.” I tell him.

“Katniss, I don’t think you lead me on either.” He whispers.

“What?”

“I know you felt something in that cave.”

I blush slightly. There's no denying that I felt this stirring when we kissed. I felt this type of hunger. I felt my soul awakening. Despite the heat of his fever and blood poisoning, we shared moments we'd never forget.

"It's fine to not understand your feelings." He reassures me. "I don't even think you're certain what was real and not real in the arena, but I feel like most of the kisses weren't for the cameras." He grips my hand, squeezing it and forcing me to smile at him. "We're under a lot of pressure.” He says. “But I hope you know that I’m here beside you through everything we’re going to be going through in the coming months. You can talk to me. Indulge me in those thoughts in your head. Lean on me when you’re scared. Ask me for advice.”

“Ok.”

"I won't break. I think to survive this, we're going to need each other." He sighs. "Only we know what we've been through. Only we understand what we've been through. Those nightmares, dreams, and tears, I'll ward them all away if you ask me too." He tells me. He pushes a loose strand of hair behind my ear and smiles at me. “Don’t shut me out and I won’t do the same.” He leans closer towards me and presses a kiss to my forehead.

I look up at him, staring into his eyes, our hands still connected and I watch as he licks his lips and I lean forward to press my own lips to his own.

“Katniss, you home?” Prim calls out, kicking her boots off in the hallway and coming rushing in. “Oh, Peeta, I wasn’t expecting to see you.” Peeta and I step apart from each other. Prim looks between the two of us.

“Oh, he dropped some bread off, and I invited him to eat with me." I tell her. "I wasn't sure how long you and Mom would be."

“Oh, the labor is going to last a bit longer. Mom sent me home because I have school tomorrow.” Prim tells us. “Is there any stew left?”

“Yeah, I’ll heat you up some. Why don’t you go and shower and it’ll be ready when you get out?”

She nods, giving Peeta and I one last look before she heads off upstairs.

“I should be getting home.” He tells me. “Thanks for dinner.”

“Thanks for saving me tonight.”

“I’ll always save you. In this lifetime and every other lifetime.” He tells me with a small smile.

I follow him to the front door, watch him put his shoes back on, and when he stands, I pull him towards me, pressing a kiss to his lips. Just a soft kiss but a kiss to tell him I appreciate his help today.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He smiles at me. “Have a nice evening.”

“Night, Peeta.”

I watch him walk home before stepping inside, closing the door behind me.

“You like him!” Prim squeals from the top of the stairs where she’s perched herself to spy on us.

“Prim! What did I tell you about spying on people’s conversations?”

“Oh, lighten up. I was just coming back down for my pyjamas.” She tells me. “I just caught the tail end.”

“You could at least pretend you didn’t hear any of it.” I scowl.

“I think you like him more than you want to admit to me.” She pokes me.

“Prim, just drop it.”

“Ok.” She smirks. “For now.”

“Prim.” I groan as she rushes past me upstairs. “You like him, you like him, you like him.”

I much prefer her childish behaviour than the words she speaks in fear. She's thriving since I've returned and looks like the girl that never spent a day starving in her entire life.

If she had won the games, she'd never survive the life of a victor. She might for the first few years but the Capitol was attracted to beautiful things, and Prim would be one of them. She'd be defiled, used, abused and have her innocence taken away. She wouldn't return as my Little Duck, she'd be this broken victor.

I wanted to keep her innocence as long as I could because having a broken sister would kill me.

“Fine, I do.”

She squeals and embraces me before running upstairs to shower, and I just shake my head with a slight smile on my face.

* * *

 “Hey, thought I could accompany you two beautiful Everdeen girls into town?” Peeta calls out to us the next week. I said I’d walk Prim to school as I had to get a few things from town.

“Sure, Peeta.” Prim smiles. “What are you up to today?”

“Going to help dad out for a little while at the bakery." He tells us. I look at him with a worried look.

“Oh, are you decorating any cakes?”

“Well, I might be able to make you one especially, Miss Primrose.” He smiles at her.

Prim and Peeta chat mostly, and I feel like the third wheel as we head to town. We both say goodbye to Prim at the crossroads, and she catches up with some of her friends before we head on down the road to town.

“You know this is probably setting an impression on the townsfolk." I comment, noticing how close he is to me.

“Well, we need to keep up with appearances.” He tells me through gritted teeth. We greet a group of children on their way to school.

“What, why?”

“He’s watching us.”

“How?”

“Haymitch caught wind that a whole new team of Peacekeepers are being deployed in the coming week.” He tells me. “He’s also recruiting the help of a lot of cameras, locals and our homes are bugged.”

“What?”

“Last week after the storm, when the Capitol technicians came to fix the power, they added a few features to our homes.” He tells me. “Don’t worry, just the downstairs.” He tells me, shushing me to keep quiet. “Haymitch gave me the heads up.”

“What does this mean?”

"We continue on with our lives the way we have been. We watch what we say inside our homes. We ensure we're careful on what we're doing out in public. We just be on guard as much as possible. Anything relating to the Capitol we don’t speak of in our homes or around anyone we can’t trust.” He tells me.

“And what does that mean for us?”

“Well, if we continue visiting each other, going for walks together into town, keeping up those appearances then I think he should be happy.”  He smiles at me. “Haymitch told me Snow’s not convinced of our love story.”

“Oh, he told you?”

“If we continue the way we’re going, I’m hoping we’ll get him off our back.”

“So you want to continue a fake relationship?”

“I don’t think it’s fake, Katniss.” He says stopping me and grabbing my hands. "I do feel genuine feelings from you. And I hope you recognise my feelings for you are truly genuine." I nod as he cups my jaw with his hand and smiles at me. "No rush or pressure but I want you to know that you are looking quite beautiful today.” He brushes his thumb down my cheek and then presses a quick kiss to my forehead. A small group of peacekeepers are heading along the path towards the school. “Shall we continue into town?”

Peeta nods at the peacekeepers and grabs my hand as we head into town.

I had to admit, it wasn’t so bad. There could be worse people I could be engaged in a fake relationship with.

A group of merchant women have gathered outside the greengrocer. A toddler runs between the women, chasing his older sister who’s not yet school age.

They turn to look at us, noticing our fingers entwined and stop their conversation.

“Good morning to you all.” Peeta greets them as we head for the door of the grocer. He kneels down to be eye to eye with the two kids and smiles at them. “Morning Miss Penny and Mr Darcy.” He greets them, ruffling Darcy’s blond curls and smiling at him. “Hope you are good."

They both nod enthusiastically and Peeta plays a magic trick of pulling a coin from behind their ears. They’re entranced with the trick and Peeta gives them a small coin each.

I watch their mother roll their eyes at the ‘charity’ her children have just received but what Peeta has given them is enough for one sweet each.

I try not to scowl too much and watch as Peeta interacts with the children. My heart flutters inside my chest. I hope he'll one day get to become a father. A father to beautiful blonde haired and blued eyed children.

The women look up at me with the mother reaching down for their hands.

“Come on, Penny and Darcy, we better leave Mr Peeta and Miss Katniss to go about their day.” She reaches down for their hands, pulling them away from us. “We have work to do unlike others around here.”

The women stalk off, their noses held in the air like they’re something of importance.

“They really don’t like the idea of a Seam girl being a Victor do they?”

"No." Peeta replies and opens the door. "But they better get used to it. You are part-merchant."

“That I am.” I agree. “But also someone with a lot of spare change." I say a little too loudly for these women to hear me. "Worth a try." I shrug my shoulders.

Peeta carries the bag, and he accompanies me for the rest of my errands. We call into the bakery for him to say hello to his family and he collects some ingredients from his family, slipping some coin into the register and bidding them goodbye. His mother has just ducked out, and I know he doesn't want to subject me to her.

But we aren’t so lucky.

“Peeta, what brings you here?” His mother asks, stepping through the door. She looks me up and down and crosses her arms over her chest.

“Just saying hello.” He tells her. “How’ve you been?”

“You know, fine.” She purses her lips. “Katniss.”

"Hello, Mrs Mellark."

“What are you doing with my son?”

“She had some errands to run, and I thought I'd help her carry her things back.” He tells her. “Since we’re neighbors now.”

“Right, neighbors." She states. "How is Victor's Village? Cozy I bet?"

“It’s very spacious. You should come and see it for yourself one day.” He tells her. “I’d happily give you a tour of my new home, might even invite you over for dinner. Katniss makes a wonderful stew.”

“Why would I want a meal made by Seam Scum?”

“Mother, I will not have you insult my girlfriend like that.” He tells her, reaching for my hand. I watch the color drain from her face. “And she’s not from The Seam, she’s from Victor’s Village.” He reminds her.

“Just because she’s moved out from The Seam doesn’t mean she’s still not that scum.”

“Mother, I will not have you insult Katniss any further. If you wish to visit us for dinner one evening, you have my number.” He tells her. He takes one of the bags from me. “Come on, Katniss, we have to pick supplies up from the apothecary." He lets me leave first. "Goodbye, mother."

“Slow down, Peeta!” I call after him. We’ve just finished the last of the errands, and he's made a beeline to head back. The conversation with his mother upset him.

But she was insulting me more than him.

“Peeta, just talk to me.” I beg. He shakes his head and walks faster. I try to keep up, matching his strides.

Anytime before I’d had run out on Mrs Mellark. Let her words get to me and would have made my way to the woods.

But I don’t want that woman to reduce me to nothing. Not reacting was the best defence against Mrs Mellark.

I grab his arm and steer him towards the old rotunda. I check to see if it’s been bugged before I speak.

“Peeta, you’re mother is just wicked. She’s a sad woman who will never change." I tell him. "If I had almost lost my son in the games, I'm sure my attitude would change, I'd see this as a second chance to make my amends, but she's not like that and really, you don't need a woman who doesn't care about you."

“She’s my mother.”

“I know but the things she’s done to you, I don’t believe she should get to call you her son.” I tell him. “There are a lot of other people out there that care for you and want to love you." I squeeze his hand. "I can take her insults, Peeta. Her words mean nothing to me. They don't hurt me. I know where I came from, my heritage and all. People just forget that because I favor my father in looks."

“It just hurts that she doesn’t believe you’re worthy of me. That I can’t be with a Seam girl. She’s so caught up in the old ways that it’s scandalous of me to be interested in you.”

"Who cares what they all think. We're alive at the end of the day, and I think they should be celebrating that more than where we come from." I remind him. “Come on, let’s get these groceries home.

He goes to his own home, and I go about unpacking the groceries, making lunch and wandering the house bored out of my mind. I nap on the couch, read a book and braid my hair over and over again.

I decide I might walk into town to meet Prim, but I find Peeta at the front door, cake in hand and a notebook in the other.

“Hi.” I greet him.

“I have a proposition.” He tells me.

“About?”

“I think we should go somewhere else.” He tells me.

He places the cake on the bench with a note for Prim and takes my hand, leading me through the Victor’s Village towards the gardens. We find the stone bench and take a seat. Peeta shows me what he’s been working on and it’s in a lot of depth and detail.

_The Relationship Plan_

“You’ve planned out our relationship?” I ask him.

"It's about being three steps in front of Snow." He tells me. "We have to be on our toes so I thought if we have a timeline to follow, we can be smart and ahead of Snow. He won't predict our moves, and we're winning."

“I don’t want this to be about winning. I just want to keep Prim alive.”

"I know you do, but we can't protect Prim if we're dead." He reminds me. "We just have to be smart and on our toes."

“Don’t you think Snow will pick up that we’re following a timeline?”

“We’re madly in love, Katniss.” He smirks. “We’re just doing what they expect us to do but a little more prematurely than they expect. It’ll work, even Haymitch thought it was a good idea.”

I look at the timeline and see what he’s planned out from now leading up to the games and a little beyond.

“Peeta, they’re going to expect children from us.” I whisper.

He wraps an arm around my shoulder and scoots closer to me. "I won't expect us to anything you're not comfortable with.” He kisses my temple.  

It’s brilliant what he’s planned out. Every little bit of detail. It's a master plan, and I feel as if we can pull it off.

“So, if you agree we’ll start the ball rolling tomorrow.” He tells me. “I’ll call Effie and get her to organise some jewellery catalogues to be sent out. That will get the gossip started.”

I look at the timeline and study it. Peeta has thought of every detail, right down to the little things and people whom we’ll get to help us pull off our plan.

"We're going to have photographers in our faces and watching our every move."

“That’s alright. I suppose it helps Snow keep an eye on our every move.” I respond. “I won’t be able to hunt though.”

"Yes, you will, just limited trips." He smiles. "I'll be the diversion, and they officially can't step inside Victor Village so you'll sneak out and I'll head into town. It'll work."

“I won’t be able to see Gale.”

He frowns slightly. "I think it'll be best for you to step away from him, especially if Snow thinks something is going on between you two." He grasps my hand. "It'll be hard I know but think of Prim."

It’s true, anything to keep Prim alive will be worth it.

“Alright, let’s get started.” I smile at him.

* * *

 “When will these photographers leave?” Prim asks, peaking a look out the living room window.

They've been camped out for nearly 8 weeks, and Peeta and I are planning our engagement to happen in a matter of days. He's ordered the ring, and it's arriving today on the train. The photographers have died down in numbers, assuming an engagement wasn’t going to take place but if one photo of Peeta carrying a small parcel from the train will set off the rumors again, and more photographers and possibly film crew will head on out.

"Soon." I tell her. "I know it's hard, but they just want to be here in case."

"But you and Peeta aren't planning an engagement are you?" She asks me. We hadn't informed her of the plan, and I was playing dumb.

“I don’t think so Prim. If Peeta is he hasn’t let on.” I tell her. “Come on, I’ll walk you to school.”

Peeta would leave just after us, the train arriving at 9 where he’ll pick up the ring packaged in the jewellery company seal and he’ll walk on home with the package on display.

I put my head down as we walk by the press and Prim and I chat quietly as we head to school.

I kiss Prim goodbye and turn on my heel, heading back home with my hands buried deep inside my coat pockets.

Peeta comes over an hour later, and we remain in the house together.

“Peeta, I need a hand down in the basement to move a few things.”

He follows me down the stairs, and we take a seat on an old chest.

“Did you get it?” I ask him.

I notice him beaming and he nods. "Yeah, I did. It's beautiful."

I decided I didn’t want to see it, I trusted him to pick something for me.

“We’re doing this?” I confirm.

He nods and smiles. "We're doing this." He squeezes my hand and leans over and kisses me.

In the last few weeks despite following the planned timeline, our relationship has bloomed. I’ve tried to focus less on saving my butt and actually enjoying time with Peeta. On learning everything there is about him and letting my attraction grow.

If we’re going to be on this train forever, I might as well get to know the man I’ll be spending my life with.

We pull apart breathless, and he smiles at me, brushing his thumb over the corner of my mouth and smiling.

“Can’t wait to get fake engaged to you.” He laughs.

I laugh too, and he kisses me again before he leads me up the stairs.

Two nights later, I'm standing in his kitchen where we've just eaten roast chicken and danced in the kitchen to some music before dessert when he gets down on one knee and professes his love as he flashes an emerald stone ring at me.

The ring was gorgeous.

"Emerald for your birth month and for your favourite color.” He tells me, slipping the ring on my finger and kissing me.

He spins me around the kitchen, and we dance the night away.

He walks me home quite late where we share the news with my mother and sister before he leaves for his house.

“It’s beautiful.” My mother comments. “He did a marvellous job.” She had helped him pick a few out. He also asked for Haymitch’s opinion.

I smile. I've been gushing all night because he genuinely does know me and picked something for me and not for show.

“Can I tell my friends at school?”

"Of course you can." I say as I embrace her.

We were relying on a few people to spread the news while I hid out for a few days.

Prim would go to school telling her friends who’d spread the news like playground gossip. The children would go home and tell their parents the news who'd have hopefully already heard.

I'd tell Madge when she comes around for an early breakfast, one we'd been sharing for the last 8 weeks. She'd hopefully bypass home and tell her father before rushing off to school. Her father would notify the staff in the house and then the team at the Justice building who'd tell everyone who'd step foot into the building. Commander Cray would hear, telling a few peacekeepers who'd then share the news amongst the barracks. The peacekeepers that hung out at The Hob would spread the news to all those in the Hob. Then those in the hob will share the news with their customers who'd later go and tell their families.

Peeta would inform his family first thing in the morning and hoped they’d display a picture of us in the window congratulating us. This notice would catch the attention of the Merchants and word would spread amongst them all and their customers who’d tell their neighbours and friends. By the time the notice goes up, Madge should have told her father who’d be on his way to work.

And finally, Effie we'd tell her during a phone call. She'll tell her friends who'd then spread the news to everyone they knew, and it’d quickly make it’s way to the President and the press. The press would camp out, knowing we were leaving for the tour very soon and knew they'd see the ring on my finger hopefully before we leave.

We'd step out first thing Saturday morning, Peeta picking me up and accompanying me into town. The press would have a shot of the ring immediately, and by the time we returned home, it'd be confirmed and Peeta and me on every Capitol TV program and front cover of their newspapers and magazines. The press would then head on back to the Capitol to ready themselves for our Victory Tour, and a Capitol TV crew would arrive early on Monday morning for our lead up interview of the Tour, and we'd speak officially and exclusively of our news. Our news we'd hope would set the tone of the Victory Tour.

And our plan is executed perfectly.

* * *

 

_“Katniss and Peeta, we must know, how did he propose?” Caesar asks us through the camera._

We’re due to leave for District 11 in 15 minutes.

I'm standing with my left hand on his chest to show off the ring as we embrace. Snow flurries are in our hair and on the fur of our coats. My lipstick is slightly smudged, and Peeta has a little bit of pink on the corner of his mouth after our kiss in the snow.

"We had just eaten roast chicken, and I invited her to dance in the kitchen with me before we had dessert." He tells them. "I whispered in her ear as we danced how lucky I am to have found someone like her and how I don't want to live without her. I've almost lost her once, and I wanted her to know how much she truly means to me in case something does happen.”

“He got down on one knee… his good knee.” I laugh which causes Caesar to laugh wildly. “And then said, _‘Katniss, I don’t want to spend another day without you. I want to make you my wife and stay with you always.’”_ I recall for all of Panem, staring into Peeta’s eyes.

“And she said yes.” Peeta smiles, staring back at me. “She made me the happiest man in the world.”

_"How exciting!" He gushes. "Am I right folks?" The crowd agrees with awes and coos. "Well we better let you be, and we'll be checking in on your throughout the Victory Tour. Thank you Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, we’ll be seeing you two here on this very stage in less than a fortnight.”_

We wave goodbye and stand there until the lights on the camera go off. I brush the snow from his hair, fix his collar of his coat and smile just before I lean in and peck him on the lips.

"No time for that, we have a train to catch." Effie barks, stepping down from the porch of my house and leading everyone to the cars that will take us to the train station.

“You ready for this?” He asks me with a questioning look.

“Yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me over on tumblr - Herainab


End file.
